Trojans hold off Chargers, 53-45

Topeka High's boys basketball team had to be considered a clear-cut favorite against Topeka West Tuesday night.

After all, the Trojans had beaten the Chargers 58-52 three days earlier, were playing at home and were facing a Topeka West team that was without its leading scorer.

But it took a strong finish for the Trojans, who trailed with 6:15 remaining, to finally put away the Chargers and take a 53-45 win.

Topeka West battled to a 7-6 lead in a low-scoring first quarter, but Topeka High came to life in the second quarter, using a 17-8 quarter to open up a 23-15 halftime lead.

The Trojans went on to open up a 12-point advantage (31-19) with 4:21 left in the third quarter on a 3-point play from Josh Barber, but West outscored High 16-5 the rest of the quarter and entered the fourth trailing by just a point, 36-35.

West senior guard Mose Hugghis banked in a 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter, then opened the fourth with a 3-point play to give the Chargers a 38-36 advantage.

The Trojans answered with a 7-0 run, however, and the Chargers got no closer than three the rest of the way.

"It's a win," said Topeka High coach Pat Denney, whose team won its third straight game to improve to 7-5. "We did not execute tonight. It was too fast, and when they made a run at us we did not execute back at them.

"We took some bad shots, we stopped running the floor. And for playing (seven) guys they sure got up and down a lot better than we did. We'll be grateful to get this one."

Senior Shon Sanders led Topeka High with 14 points and was the lone Trojan in double figures, but High had five other players with between six and nine points.

Junior Tyrese Parker added nine points for the Trojans and hit four big free throws in the fourth quarter.

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